Every year, the MIXX Awards Europe jury reads through hundreds of entries looking for the same thing: work that holds up. Not work that photographs well in a case study, but campaigns built on real strategy, real creative craft, and real measurable results.
That standard is set by the people doing the judging. This year's panel brings together 23 senior leaders from across Europe's digital advertising industry, spanning agencies, brands, platforms, and national IAB federations, reviewing entries across 24 categories organised around five pillars: Technology & Innovation, AI, Content/Creators & Experience, Impact/Purpose & Effectiveness, and Media Environments. Entries are assessed equally on strategy, creative, and results, and it's rare for a jury this senior to be this candid about what actually separates a shortlisted entry from one that doesn't make the cut.
With the final entry deadline landing on 24th July, we asked a handful of this year's judges what they look for when they sit down with a submission. No generic tips, just the things they've told us they notice first, and the things that quietly cost an entry its place.
Strategy is where a lot of entries lose the room before the creative even gets a fair hearing. Judges aren't looking for a slide that justifies the idea after the fact. They're looking for a decision that shaped everything that came after it.
After several years on the MIXX Awards Europe jury, Ania Gruszka, Chief Growth Officer, adQuery, says it's those defining decisions that leave the biggest impression:
"After years on this jury, the entries I remember aren't the ones with the biggest budgets. They're the ones where the team can tell you exactly what quality decision they made and why it mattered."
That emphasis on clear strategic thinking is echoed by Eddie Adedeji, Head of Commercial EMEA, Publicis Media, who reminds entrants that bigger isn't always better:
"Scale isn't a substitute for clarity. Some of the strongest entries I've judged worked in a single market with a tight, well-argued idea."
Craft is judged on its own terms too, separate from whether the strategy behind it was sound. An entry can have the right insight and still fall short if the execution doesn't do that insight justice, and the panel notices the gap when it's there. For Ed Bagnall, Creative Studio Manager EU, Uber Advertising, it's often the emotional impact that distinguishes technically impressive work from truly memorable work:
"I've judged a lot of technically brilliant work that never quite lands emotionally. An idea only really works if you can feel it, not just measure it."
Where a campaign lived matters as much as what it said. Entries built specifically for a platform's audience read differently to judges than campaigns adapted after the fact to fit wherever the media plan happened to land. That audience-first mindset is something Virginia Alvarez, Head of Insight and Effectiveness, EMEA, VML, pays particular attention to when reviewing entries:
"Understanding your audience isn't a research slide at the start of the deck. The entries that score highest with me are the ones where that understanding shows up in every part of the execution."
Underneath all of it, judges are still asking the oldest question in the room: what problem did this solve for a real person. Entries that can answer that clearly, without hiding it behind a media strategy, tend to hold a jury's attention the longest. As Denisa Rusu, Brand Director, P&G Hair Care South East Europe, puts it:
"The best campaigns start with a consumer truth, not a media plan. If I can't tell what problem you solved for real people, the results won't convince me either."
And results close the loop. Not results dressed up to look convincing, but results the team can stand behind under questioning, because that's effectively what a jury deliberation is. Having judged at both national and European level, Doina Radicof, Country Manager, Teads Romania & President, IAB Romania, believes honesty is one of the clearest indicators of a strong entry:
"Having sat on both a national jury and this one, I'd say the throughline is honesty about results. Judges can tell the difference between a campaign that performed and one that's been dressed up to look like it did."
With AI recognised as one of this year's judging pillars, it's worth remembering that the technology itself isn't what impresses the jury. What matters is how it's used to create a better outcome for audiences and brands. Mascha Driessen, VP Continental Europe, Microsoft Advertising, offers a simple reminder for entrants considering AI-focused submissions:
"Don’t tell us your entry used AI. Show us why it mattered!"
This is also the first year since MIXX Awards Europe returned to an in-person format for the ceremony itself. Gold winners will be presented on stage at the MIXX Awards Europe Ceremony on 8th October at Felix Meritis in Amsterdam, with Silver and Bronze winners notified directly.
Tickets are now available. Book your place today and join us in Amsterdam for Europe's premier celebration of digital advertising excellence.
It's worth remembering, too, that every entry here has already been through the national IAB MIXX competitions, or an equivalent route where no national programme exists. This jury isn't assessing untested work. It's the next stage for campaigns that have already stood up to scrutiny once. It’s truly the best of the best and Once in, always in. As Luis Marinho-Falcão, Head of Operations, IAB Portugal, puts it:
"There's no such thing as a purely 'digital' entry anymore, just marketing that works or doesn’t. Judge your own work by whether it would still stand out from all the noise outside the category you're entering it into."
If you've got a campaign that's proud to stand up to that kind of scrutiny and stand out from the noise, entries close 24th July.
